Euchologion (Ritual of the Orthodox Church); selected prayers and blessings; didactic verses; epistolary models; decorated manuscript in Greek on paper DECORATED MANUSCRIPT IN GREEK ON PAPER, Mount Athos (monastery of Iviron?), c. 1650-1665. 148 x 103 mm. 69 folios, preceded and followed by a single flyleaf, watermarks in Andreev (collation, i6 [of 8, lacking 1 and 8 with loss of text] ii-iii8 iv7 [of 8, lacking 8 with loss of text] v8 vi8 [1 has been replaced] vii-ix8), quires sometimes signed with a cross in the center of the upper margin of each quire?'s first and last pages and/or with Greek numerals in outer upper corner of each quire?'s first and last pages, written in a calligraphic script on fourteen lines (justification, c. 103 x 59 mm.), ruled in drypoint, red ornamented initials throughout, narrow headband on f. 1, later additions by as many as three hands. BINDING: Recent binding of paper over cardboard. TEXT: This miscellany includes a selection of liturgical blessings and other prayers from the Euchologion, additional prayers, didactic verses, and model letters. The Euchologion is one of the chief liturgical books of the Orthodox Church, containing the portions of the services that are said by the bishop, priest, and deacon. (It corresponds more or less with the Catholic Missal and Ritual.) No two manuscript Euchologia are identical. Two of the prayers included here (for the blessing of a herd and for raising silk worms) are unpublished. It is noteworthy that this manuscript combines its liturgical contents with didactic verses and model letters. The model letters, probably also unpublished, are of interest to historians for the light they may throw on social relations at the time. Although late in date, the present manuscript is of interest for its contents and as an example of the continued tradition of manuscript production in seventeenth-century Greece. PROVENANCE: Textual evidence suggests that the principal part of the volume (ff. 1-61) was probably copied at the Iviron (Iberon or Iveron) Monastery on Mount Athos, since the first item in its collection of models for correspondence (ff. 43-61v) ends with a signature that translates to ?"Priest and monk so-and-so, abbot of the Holy and Royal Monastery of Iviron . .?" Evidence of watermarks and script suggests it was copied in the seventeenth century, c. 1650-1665. There is no evidence that this manuscript remained on Mount Athos; monks there sometimes copied manuscripts for use elsewhere. Additions on ff. 62-69 by three different eighteenth-century hands are suggestive of a non-monastic owner. Private European collection. CONDITION: Some foxing and worm holes, but overall in good condition. Full description and photographs available (TM 756).
[Bookseller: Les Enluminures ]